“There was nothing in the game for an hour and I felt like the penalty decision was soft.” rued midfielder Skuse, reflecting on the defeat at Ewood Park. “We’re frustrated because this felt like a missed opportunity.”

With Town having won their previous game 1-0 against fellow-strugglers Rotherham at Portman Road, Skuse continued: “We’re not kidding ourselves, we got lucky with that 1-0 result. It was a good 1-0 result, we needed the result more than anything, but they bombarded us second half. It wasn’t a brilliant performance, but it was three points.

Skuse started the Paul Lambert reign like a train only to suffer a knee injury in training that required an operation. The 32-year-old sat out seven matches at the turn of the year before returning to action against Rotherham.

“The surgeon said 8-10 weeks out and I was back after four,” he said. “That’s huge credit to all the physio staff, Matt Byard and Alex Chapman, who have done brilliantly with myself.

With captain Luke Chambers playing Saturday’s game with an injured wrist, Skuse added: “We want to be out there and helping. Look, with the situation we’re in we’re all trying our utmost and really, really hoping it turns for us shortly.”